Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has noted the United States’ move to impose visa restrictions on South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement following the announcement of the sanction, Lamola said it was concerning and that his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, had mischaracterised South Africa’s policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, he said, was by playing into the narrative set by “fringe groups” who “wrongly portray themselves as representatives of minorities and Afrikaners in general”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lamola said that social justice and fundamental human rights are a constitutional imperative in the country, and that South Africa’s policies are there to heal “divisions of the past” and establish a society based on democratic values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“South Africa remains committed to addressing the injustices of the past and contemporary challenges as a sovereign people,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation\u2019s concern over centuries of racial injustice.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defending South Africa’s laws and policies\u2014the basis for the new restrictions being imposed by the US\u2014Labola said that the legislation is intended to “improve the plight of the people who had been excluded for centuries”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is consistent with other countries that have a similar experience to South Africa,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lamola said that South Africa “respects that the United States may hold different views regarding particular measures and their implementation.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he said that the country will continue to address these issues through its constitutional institutions, democratic processes, and the rule of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, he said that the United States has the freedom to develop its own laws, and so, too, South Africa should be afforded the same right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The people of South Africa respect the right of the American people to develop laws to address their conditions,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is our expectation that people of South Africa must be afforded the same respect as sovereignty demands.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broadly addressing the concerns raised\u2014specifically the alleged targeting of minorities and rural crime\u2014Lamola touched on general legislation dealing with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that South Africa has enacted the \u201cPrevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act 16 of 2023″ to combat hate speech and hate crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This legislation sets a stringent legal framework for the eradication of hate speech and the prosecution of hate crimes. This law is binding on both the State and non-state actors,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding rural crime, without mentioning farm murders, the minister pointed to “challenges of crime in South Africa”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said crime affects everyone and is not targeting anyone based on their race, colour, or social origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He urged the United States to continue constructive engagement with the country, saying that unilateral actions won’t resolve anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The ongoing South Africa-United States bilateral discussions on these matters demonstrate the importance that both countries attach to finding a lasting solution,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The discussions have highlighted the need for any resolution to consider South Africa\u2019s unique circumstances and to respect its democracy, constitution, sovereignty, and the will of its people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lamola said that relations between the United States and South Africa can only be resolved through constructive engagement by state actors on both sides of the diplomatic channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Mr Ronald Lamola has noted with concern the unilateral visa restrictions announced by his counterpart Secretary Marco Rubio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announcement once again, aligns with the mischaracterisation of South Africa\u2019s domestic policies by fringe groups who wrongly portray themselves as representatives of \u201cminorities\u201d and Afrikaners in general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We reiterate that Healing the divisions of the past and establishing a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights is a constitutional imperative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa remains committed to address the injustices of the past and contemporary challenges as a sovereign people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation\u2019s concern over centuries of racial injustice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legislation in the democratic era is intended to improve the plight of the people who had been excluded for centuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is consistent with other countries who have a similar experience to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, South Africa as part of its commitments to the international convention on the eradication of racial discrimination and the protection of the dignity of all people has enacted the \u201cPrevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act 16 of 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This legislation sets a stringent legal framework for the eradication of hate speech and the prosecution of hate crimes. This law is binding on both the State and non-state actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa respects that the United States may hold different views regarding particular measures and their implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, we remain committed to addressing these challenges through our constitutional institutions, democratic processes and the rule of law, with the objective of building a more equal and inclusive society for all South Africans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people of South Africa respect the right of American people to develop laws to address their conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is our expectation that people of South Africa must be afforded the same respect as sovereignty demands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South African government remains seized with the challenges of crime in South Africa which affects everyone and not targeting anyone based on their race, colour, or social origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, the ongoing South Africa \u2013 United States bilateral discussions on these matters demonstrate the importance that both countries attach to finding a lasting solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discussions have highlighted the need for any resolution to consider South Africa\u2019s unique circumstances and to respect its democracy, constitution, sovereignty, and the will of its people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We maintain that challenges in our bilateral relations with the USA can only be resolved by constructive engagement through state actors on both sides of the diplomatic channel not unilateral acts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has responded to the United States’ move to restrict some South African visas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":875839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"X publishing failed: X returned HTTP 403: Your monthly spend cap has been reached.","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6138,19567,10022],"class_list":["post-875834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-dirco","tag-ronald-lamola","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875834"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875843,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875834\/revisions\/875843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}